Steele Discovering New Things
by kgmohror
Summary: Set in Season 4. Spring is in the air, and Laura decides to introduce Mr. Steele to a holiday tradition. Written in response to a writing challenge: "something new."


**Steele Discovering New Things**

Laura was just packing her briefcase with a few things to take home for the weekend when Mr. Steele appeared in her office doorway. He glanced at the pile of folders she was packing and frowned.

"Laura, we're expecting the first really nice, spring day tomorrow. Surely you have better things to do on a sunny Saturday than paperwork."

"Such as?" she asked.

He stepped into the office and leaned over her desk, just within kissing distance. "Such as a drive up the coast for a relaxing, intimate picnic for two in some little out-of-the-way spot …" He gave her a quick kiss. "A gourmet hamper …" Another peck. "A bottle of wine …" Another kiss, lingering this time.

At length Laura pulled back, a bit flustered and slightly dazed. The man could be persuasive. "Sounds wonderful," she began, and he smiled broadly. "Unfortunately, I already have a date for tomorrow."

His smile vanished, replaced by a look of wounded confusion. "Uh. Oh," he stammered. "I didn't realize you were seeing anyone … else."

Laura felt an instant pang of guilt at his expression and hurried to explain. "I'm playing world's-best-auntie again. Donald is out of town on business and Frances has a class at UCLA, so I was coerced into taking the kids downtown to the mayor's egg roll in Pan Pacific Park."

Now Steele looked less wounded, but still as confused. "The mayor is serving Chinese food in the park?"

She laughed. "I wish! No, this is the annual Easter egg roll and hunt. My 'date' will involve 2,000 screaming kids, about as many harried parents and one guy dressed in a giant bunny suit." Now it was her turn to lean across the desk and give him an affectionate smooch. "I'd rather spend the day with you, believe me."

"I think it sounds rather intriguing," Steele said. "What exactly goes on at one of these shindigs?"

"They don't have Easter egg hunts where you're from?"

Steele shrugged. "I suppose they probably do. I wasn't much involved in family-oriented events when I was a lad."

Laura flushed, recalling that many of the experiences she took for granted as a normal part of growing up were denied him. "It's just a lot of silliness, really," she assured him.

He nodded. "I'm sure it is." There was an awkward pause, then Steele ventured, "Maybe if it's not too late when you get off babysitting duty-"

"Why don't you come with us?" Laura blurted impulsively.

"What?"

"The kids would be thrilled – they like you better than me, anyway, and afterwards we can drop them off at home and do dinner and a movie." Laura smiled to herself, imagining depositing her sugar-buzzed nieces and nephew back into their mother's hands and driving off with the handsome Mr. Steele. There were certain advantages to being a single gal.

"Laura, I don't know …. 2,000 screaming kids, you say?"

"And a giant rabbit. How often do you get to see one of those?"

"You make it sound very tempting," he deadpanned.

She came around the desk and stepped close to him, fiddling with his tie. "There's that drive-in theatre you've been wanting to check out in the Valley. Of course, if the idea of a couple of hours crammed together in the Auburn … in the dark … with a bottle of wine … doesn't appeal to you …"

"What time shall I pick you up?" Steele said, grinning.

Saturday morning proved as sunny and warm as the weatherman predicted. It never got really cold in L.A., but winters were damp and often cloudy and the city's residents were as happy as those of any other place when the gloom lifted and spring arrived.

Laura ended up picking up Steele in the Rabbit, slightly roomier than the Auburn, then swung by the Piper house to collect the youngsters. As Laura expected, Daniel, Mindy and especially Laurie Beth were over the moon to see her partner in the passenger seat. Laura might even have been a bit jealous of their excitement, if she weren't equally tickled to see him so obviously lapping up their adoration.

Mr. Steele proved a helpful wingman on the drive to the park in mid-city west, keeping the kids entertained as Laura circled the surrounding blocks for a parking spot. She finally found one relatively close to the park and they all piled out.

"Stay close to me and Mr. Steele!" Laura admonished as the kids fairly bounced down the sidewalk. "Mindy, Daniel, I'm counting on you to help your little sister. Don't talk to any strangers, and don't eat anything you find until I've had a chance to check it out first." Laura's instructions continued all the way from the car to the park, the kids alternately rolling their eyes and ignoring her completely.

They found the park already crowded, and Laura decided her estimate of 2,000 screaming kids was not the exaggeration she had intended it to be. She could already feel her stress level rising as she tried to keep a watchful eye on her young charges, who were far more interested in checking out all the excitement than in heeding her advice to stick together.

In addition to the advertised egg-related events, there were many other activities and opportunities to spend lots of money at booths lining the sidewalks throughout the park. In short order, all three Piper kids had their faces painted, Daniel had acquired a plastic race car and the girls had fairy wings strapped to their backs. Eventually they reached the area where the egg roll races would be held, and Laura left the youngsters in Steele's care while she signed Daniel and Mindy up to participate.

Laurie Beth was too little to take part in the races, so Mr. Steele hoisted her onto his shoulders to watch her big brother and sister crawling on all fours, pushing brightly colored hard-boiled eggs up a low slope with their noses. It was a frenzied scene as dozens of 8-10-year-olds jostled for position and frantically tried to move their eggs onward and upward while their parents and other kids on the sidelines whooped and hollered their encouragement. Laura stole a glance at Mr. Steele, who was cheering with the best of them.

It was astonishing, Laura thought, how this man seemed to fit in perfectly wherever he found himself. She was one of the very few who knew that he didn't _really_ belong anywhere. Every new situation was an alien environment for him, and his chameleon skills had carried him from the most desperate, back-alley squats to the palaces of royalty as he slipped, apparently effortlessly, from one identity to another. Watching him now, grinning widely as Laurie Beth bounced on his shoulders and tugged on his ears, Laura thought this particular persona suited him very well.

Neither Mindy nor Daniel won their race, but both came back with ribbons and chocolate rabbits for participating. Laura Beth whimpered at the sight of the sweet treats in her siblings' hands, but Mr. Steele forestalled a tantrum by buying her an enormous, chocolate-covered marshmallow rabbit from a nearby stall.

They had a few minutes to kill before the main event – the Easter egg hunt – began. Laura scanned the rows of vendor booths, looking for something reasonably healthy to feed her nieces and nephew. Pizza seemed to be the best option, so Laura bought a slice of pepperoni for each of them and they sat on the grass under a tall oak to eat.

The short break allowed Mindy and Daniel to fill Mr. Steele in on the excitement of the egg roll race and their Herculean – or more accurately, Sisyphusian – efforts to maneuver their eggs to the top of the hill. Steele listened, apparently rapt, and heaped praise on their athletic prowess.

An older lady strolling by them with a toddler in a stroller paused and smiled at Laura. "You have a beautiful family," she said. Laura opened her mouth to correct the woman's error, but Mr. Steele responded, "Thank you!" He winked at Laura. "And that little one is a darlin'. Yours?"

The woman beamed. "My grandbaby. She's 18-months-old."

"She's perfect," Laura commented sincerely. She reached out and took the baby's tiny hand in hers, smiling softly as she caressed the backs of those soft, chubby fingers with her thumb. Laura had been so focused on building the agency for so long that she hadn't given much thought to things like babies and families. But lately, and especially since Donald and Frances had moved west so Laura spent more time with her sister's children, she had been feeling a curious longing that sharpened to a pang whenever she saw young couples with children.

Laura had never been closed to the idea of marriage and a family – indeed, she had always simply assumed it would happen some day, when the time was right. These days, though, she found herself pausing in front of store display windows populated with kid-sized mannequins and buying magazines whose covers promised, "Career and Family: You CAN Have It All!"

"Damned biological clock," Laura muttered to herself. The trouble was, she felt no certainty that she COULD have it all … at least, have that "all" in the way she dreamed. Ever since that dark period when Mr. Steele had disappeared from her life to seek his identity, Laura had stopped trying to delude herself about how she felt about him. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with this enigmatic, funny and sometimes infuriating man. She wanted a home with him, and she wanted to have his children.

But she had no expectation that Mr. Steele felt the same. She believed – she KNEW – that he cared for her. She could hope that he even loved her, though he'd never said the words. It seemed a lifetime ago that the two of them, in the Devil's Playground, had made their respective positions clear: She was looking for something lasting, while he'd spent his life avoiding commitment "like the proverbial plague." And though they had become so much closer since that time, Laura had no real reason to think his position had changed. Even if he'd assured her he wasn't going anywhere, that didn't mean he was ready to settle down and take one woman to "have and to hold" for a lifetime … did it?

Until they were able to be completely honest with one another, really TALK about how they felt and what they wanted, Laura would never really know where she stood. There had been quiet moments since they returned from England when she had almost broached the subject … but ultimately fear held her tongue. Because what if his feelings HADN'T changed? How could she face knowing that his dreams were so very different from hers? Eventually, Laura knew, she might have to choose between the man she loved and a life he couldn't bring himself to share. The thought caused sharp pricks of tears to form in her eyes, and she blinked them back quickly. Some day she would have to choose. But not today.

Reluctantly, Laura released the baby's tiny hand and watched the proud grandma push the stroller away. Turning back to their little picnic, Laura saw that Mr. Steele was looking at her with an expression she couldn't fathom. Abruptly he looked away and leaned over to tickle Laurie Beth. "So, where's this egg hunt thing happening?" he asked brightly.

The scene at the egg-hunting ground was enough to make Laura rethink her desire for motherhood. It was chaos! Hundreds of children, many of them tired and screaming after the over-stimulation of the morning's excitement, were jammed together behind a pink ribbon that stretched the width of a broad expanse of gently rolling grass and trees. A dozen or so ladies were passing among the crowd, handing out small baskets to the eager hunters-to-be. Laura felt a little tightening in her gut as she wondered how she could possibly keep track of three exuberant kids in this crowd.

"Mindy and Daniel, you know you have to hold Laurie Beth's hands," Laura said firmly. "She's little, and we don't want her getting lost or trampled." Laura could see that her words were falling on deaf ears. The two older children were already in the zone, visualizing how they would out-maneuver their competitors to claim the biggest and best booty.

Suddenly there was a sound like a train whistle, the pink ribbon dropped and the crowd surged forward. As Laura feared, Daniel and Mindy scampered off in roughly opposite directions, snatching up foil-wrapped chocolate eggs and marshmallow Peeps that were "hidden" in mostly full view all over the grass. Laura felt a surge of panic as her eyes tried to follow both kids at once. And then there was Laurie Beth to worry about, too. The littlest Piper, suddenly shy, had hung back from the mad dash and was among a much smaller crowd of the smallest children, largely loitering at the starting line.

"Mr. Steele," Laura gasped a little desperately, "Would you mind-"

"I'm on it," he answered, giving her the nod to follow the older Piper children.

Laura had to sprint to remain in visual range of Daniel and Mindy. They'd had several years to hone their egg-hunting skills, and had perfected the technique of swooping down to snag candy without breaking stride. In 10 minutes it was all over, the fiercest competitors having reached the finish line with baskets bulging. Laura caught up with Daniel and Mindy there. They were flushed with the thrill of victory, and satisfied that they appeared to have collected roughly equal amounts of sweets.

As the three of them walked back toward their starting point, the two Piper children already stuffing their mouths with chocolate, Laura noted that the five-and-unders were still moseying around, picking up the stray treats that had escaped the older kids. Laura smiled at one tiny girl in a flowered dress whose basket was completely empty; her method was to pick up a chocolate, sit down on the grass, unwrap and eat it on the spot, then get to her feet again to seek the next one.

Laura spotted Mr. Steele and Laurie Beth, too. Steele literally had his hands full: he was holding Laura's small hand in his right one, and toting her basket in his left. They strolled along, Laurie stopping now and again to pick up a candy and place it carefully in the basket Steele held out for her. Laura could see they were chatting as they walked, Mr. Steele bending his head to look down into Laurie's upraised face. Occasionally Mr. Steele would nod in one direction or other and say something, evidently alerting the little girl to a chocolate egg hiding in the grass. Then she would let go of his hand and trot off to retrieve the prize.

At one point they paused and Steele squatted down beside her, holding the basket for her inspection. She rummaged around in it a few seconds, then pulled out a candy, scratched off the foil wrapping and handed it to her partner. He popped it into his mouth, then held up his palm for her to slap him a high-five. She did, laughing.

"Somebody's sure lucky," came a voice at Laura's elbow. Another young woman, three kids in tow, had come up beside Laura and the Pipers.

"Excuse me?" Laura asked, smiling.

The woman gestured toward Steele and Laurie Beth. "Whoever's got a claim on that one. I couldn't _drag_ my husband to this, much less get him to help one of his own kids pick up candy eggs."

"He is an extraordinary man in many ways," Laura answered.

The woman's eyes widened. "Yours?"

Laura had no idea how to answer that. "He's not my husband," she said after a second's hesitation. "We're just … good friends. That's my niece he's helping."

The woman continued to eye Steele, now with a slightly covetous glint. "So … is he single, then?"

Laura frowned. "I thought you mentioned a husband …?"

"Yeah, I'm married. But for that guy, I might be willing to forget that, at least temporarily."

"He's NOT single," Laura said firmly, and quickened her step to outpace the too-willing wife.

Steele looked up and caught sight of Laura and the kids and gave them a smile and wave. He said something to Laurie, who looked in their direction, then retrieved her basket from Steele and came running toward her aunt and siblings.

"Auntie Laura! Look at all the candy I got!" she shouted.

"That's very impressive, Laurie Beth," Laura said as the little girl reached her. "It's a good thing your father is a dentist."

Laurie Beth looked into her basket, then grabbed a large chocolate egg and held it up to Laura. "Rembington said you like this kind."

"Thank you, Laurie," said Laura, accepting the gift. She made eye contact with Mr. Steele, who was approaching rapidly, a big grin on his face. "Mr. Steele knows my weakness for chocolate."

Of course Daniel and Mindy had to display their loot to Steele as they all made their way back toward the car. Near the entrance to the park Steele stopped. "We should do that before we leave," he said.

Laura looked and saw a photo booth set up, with a man in a rabbit suit sitting on a giant Easter egg. For a mere $10, kids could get their picture taken with the "Easter Bunny."

"I don't think that's necessary," Laura answered. "Daniel and Mindy are really too old, and I think Laurie Beth might be scared to do it by herself."

"No, I meant we should all get in the picture," Steele said. "A souvenir of the day."

"Um … okay," Laura said, bemused.

She could tell Daniel and Mindy weren't keen; they were eager to get to the car and start tearing into their baskets. But Steele cajoled them with his customary charm, and moments later the four of them were arranged around the oversized rodent.

"Say cheese," commanded the bored-looking teenager behind the camera.

"Stinky limburger!" Steele shouted, and the camera caught the whole group in mid-laugh.

They waited for the Polaroid to be developed and slipped into a cardboard frame. Laura tucked the masterpiece in her purse and they headed back to the car. The first ten minutes of the ride home was predictably boisterous, but by the time they turned into the Pipers' middle-class neighborhood, all three kids were asleep.

Frances met them at the curb and hoisted sleepy Laurie Beth into her arms while Steele gently woke the other two.

"How did it go?" Frances asked, eyeing the baskets and accumulated candy wrappers with only mild disapproval.

"Fine," Laura said. "I think they had fun."

"And even if they didn't, we did!" Steele commented, joining the conversation. He gave Laura a playful nudge and eyebrow waggle.

"Well, thank you both," Frances said. "I hope I can do the same for you some day."

Laura flushed with mortification, but Mr. Steele took the remark in his stride. "Frances, don't let Laura con you into babysitting me. I'm told I'm a handful."

The sun hung low in the sky as Steele and Laura settled back in their seats in the Rabbit, each with a glass of wine in one hand and a piece of fast food chicken in the other. Though the movie would start soon, the drive-in lot was mostly empty; Laura had a feeling that this already-rare species of entertainment would soon be extinct.

Laura hoped she'd be able to stay awake through the movie; she felt exhausted from the day spent with her nieces and nephew. But, she had promised Mr. Steele a romantic evening …

"I think we're supposed to be necking," Steele said, and sighed.

Laura smiled. "I guess so."

"I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I don't think I have the energy," Steele admitted sheepishly.

"Thank God," Laura answered. "I'm half dead myself."

"Does this mean I'm getting old?" Steele fretted.

"I don't know how Frances and Donald do it, seven days a week," Laura shook her head.

"Huh!" Steele grunted. "After the first one, I don't know how they had the stamina to make two more."

Laura laughed. "Frances and Donald are like rabbits. Which reminds me …" she opened her purse and pulled out the photo taken at the park. "I suppose we should have given this to the kids."

Steele leaned over and snatched it from her fingers. "No way. I paid for it. It's mine."

"I knew you were looking for new artwork for the penthouse, but I didn't think this is what you had in mind," Laura teased.

"It will occupy a place of honor," he answered. "A memento of my first-ever Easter egg hunt."

They lapsed into silence then, sipping their wine and polishing off the last of the bucket of chicken and biscuits. As the dusk deepened, casting the two of them in shadow, Laura reflected on the day.

"I don't know if I could do it," she said softly.

"Do what?" Steele's voice was drowsy.

"Raise kids. Be a mom. I'm not sure I have it in me."

She felt, rather than saw, him turn his head toward her. "You are going to make an amazing mother, Laura."

"You think?" She hoped he didn't notice the tremor in her voice.

Laura expected a glib response, but his voice was quiet and serious. "Yeah. I know you will."

"I wish I handled the kids as well as you do," Laura said. "It seems to come so naturally to you."

He chuckled. "Maybe because I'm just a big kid myself."

"Perhaps you could give me a few pointers, in case I ever need to be able to do this full-time."

"Me teach _you_ something? That's new!" Steele laughed.

She stuck her tongue out at him, even though he couldn't see it in the dark. "I know I'm competitive, but I am perfectly capable of admitting that there are a few things I can learn from you."

"Well, I am at your service," he said lightly. "And, when it's time for on-the-job training … well …" His voice grew soft again. "I expect I'll be around to give you a hand with that."

"I hope so."

"Laura-"

A bright light illuminated the windshield as the giant screen in front of them flickered to life and the previews started.

Steele took Laura's empty wine glass and set it next to his on the dash, then tossed the chicken bucket in the backseat. As the opening credits of the feature flashed across the screen, Steele skooched closer to Laura and put his arm around her shoulders.

"I thought you were tired," Laura protested, her eyes sparkling at him.

"Just getting my second wind. Seems a shame to waste this dim lighting."

"Mr. Steele, you are incorrigible."

"Now Laura," he said, capturing her chin between his thumb and index finger. "You know what the poet says: When in spring, a young man's fancy …" His voice trailed off as he lowered his lips to meet hers.

END


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